Grass carp bile: Miracle drug or poison?

Along with the rumors about the benefits of grass carp bile is the increase in emergency cases due to poisoning in hospitals every year. So, is there a healing effect from grass carp bile?

When benefits are exaggerated

Out of nowhere, grass carp bile suddenly became considered a miracle drug that can cure stomachaches, backaches, asthma, chronic coughs, physical weakness...And the consequence of these oral remedies is that the number of grass carp bile poisoning cases tends to increase. The Poison Control Center (Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi) alone receives over 10 cases of grass carp bile poisoning each year, most of them are men, and there have been deaths due to late hospitalization.

Emergency treatment for a patient with grass carp bile poisoning. Photo: case.vn

Understand to use correctly

In all fairness, it is no coincidence that rumors about the benefits of grass carp bile are still passed on by word of mouth and followed by many people.

In fact, many traditional medicine documents have recorded the effects of grass carp bile (clear as gall) in some medicinal recipes. The book "Medicinal Properties Guide" states: "Grass carp bile is used to treat malignant diseases, mix it with lime and apply it to sores. For people with sore throats or swelling, mix it with white chalk powder, dry it in a cool place, blow a little on it and it will be cured."

Grass carp

The book "Compendium of Materia Medica" writes: Grass carp bile has the effect of clearing heat, brightening the eyes, used to treat red, painful, swollen eyes, eyes with membranes, sore throat, and heat-induced ulcers.

The book "Sichuan Chinese Medicine" records the experience of treating boils and ulcers by taking grass carp bile, gac fruit seeds and rhubarb, drying them, grinding them finely, mixing them well and applying them to the ulcers... However, there is no medical book that mentions using grass carp bile for beauty, strengthening virility, preventing physical weakness and other benefits as rumored.

Black carp.

Some documents also clearly state that grass carp bile is toxic. Another difference is that traditional medicine is mainly used externally (applied to the skin, dropped, or swallowed) and the bile has been dried and is often combined with many other ingredients. Meanwhile, most cases of poisoning are often caused by drinking fresh grass carp bile or mixing it with alcohol.

According to modern medicine, Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen (Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital) said that grass carp bile contains toxins that cause acute liver and kidney failure and directly affect the digestive tract, so anyone who has consumed grass carp bile but “has not” shown signs of poisoning should go to the hospital for examination.

According to suckhoegiadinh